


the collapse

by kasttronaut



Category: When The Night Comes (Visual Novel)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I wrote this when I was having a bad day, Other, ugly crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-15 21:53:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21025301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kasttronaut/pseuds/kasttronaut
Summary: Being a Hunter in Lunaris is tough work, and sometimes shit sucks.





	the collapse

Omen’s blush was bright as he and Alkar walked, speed-walked, if he was being honest they were practically _running_ through the woods in a rush to get home. They’d been at Ezra’s, helping him close shop while Antiope was out on a short hunt, but he’d sent them home early and they’d been flirting the entire way back, hands and tails twined. 

They were still running, almost there, when Alkar stopped suddenly, catching him with an arm around his waist so they didn’t end up on the forest floor. His lupine ears flicked up, swiveled, caught a sound that Omen couldn’t hear. 

“Something’s wrong.” Alkar deflated, roguish grin melting into a worried frown, ears pulling tight to his head. He tugged Omen forward, urgent in a different way, and it wasn’t until Alkar had pulled open the trapdoor and slipped through that the demon heard it, and then he was clambering through and saw.

Antiope’s sobbing was muffled by the quilts that she’d buried herself under, her form a small lump shaking in the center of the bed. 

“Well, shit.” Alkar paused, his shoulders hitching, before forging on. Feelings weren’t his strong suit, but Omen was with him and there wasn’t a chance in hell they were going to leave her like that.

When the both of them got to the bed it was Omen that crawled to her, peeling back the blankets and rubbing her back. His voice had the same lilt he’d use with a hurt animal, featherlight and soothing and _concerned_. Ezra had taught him well. “Antiope? Talk to us, zes haewa, what’s wrong?” 

She sat up slowly, leaning into Omen, and Alkar’s frown deepened. She looked a mess, hair wild and eyes swollen, tears and snot running down her face. She was clutching their favorite pillows to her, and there was a wet spot where her face had been; she’d been here for a while. 

His heart ached, his heart ached, her heart ached. Alkar grabbed a clean rag and then sat next to her, gently wiping at her eyes and nose. Their tails curled around her waist, loose, offering support and comfort.

“I-” She hiccuped, took a deep breath, took a second one and then tried to speak again but all that came out was a wail. Alkar moved next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders, and the two of them sat with her while her storm ran its course.

When she was reduced to just sniffling, Alkar wiped her face once more and then squeezed her with his tail. 

“Shit sucks, huh?” He meant to play it off, to make her smile- would do anything to get that desolate expression off her face- but his words came out a bit too gruff, a bit too knowing and world-worn. 

She laughed anyway, didn’t have any tears left, and nodded. “Shit sucks.”

Hours later, she woke up, drooling on Alkar’s tail and with Omen’s hand on her ass, and she smiled for the first time all day.

Shit sucked now, but it wasn’t going to forever. Not if she had the two of them.


End file.
